Found one dozen eggs hidden behind the house. Possibly three days old. Are they safe to keep?

[Schrods]

So Im trying to find info on egg collecting. I usually collect daily or every other day at the longest. Today I found one dozen eggs hidden behind the house. They were not there four days ago. Id hate to throw that many eggs out. Are they safe to keep?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I personally would throw them out or feed them back to your chickens. Why risk it for a dozen eggs.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

So Im trying to find info on egg collecting. I usually collect daily or every other day at the longest. Today I found one dozen eggs hidden behind the house. They were not there four days ago. Id hate to throw that many eggs out. Are they safe to keep?

If you take them and put them in a bucket of water, and any float to the top, discard them. If they stay laying on the bottom, or even if they stand on end, but don't float off the bottom, they are edible.

 

[carlf]

Eggs stay "good " in the nest for up to 14 days before hens start to set. So 4 days old, they should be fine. But test them as noted above.


You need to pen up your hens to get them back to laying in the nest boxes, if that was 4 days worth of eggs, at least 4 hens laid in that spot!

 

[bbhorsefly]

I had an EE that inexplicably "stopped laying" earlier this year for about a week and a half. I thought it was very odd until I found a small trail of her green eggs leading to a small clutch under a bush in my front yard. There were 8 eggs in total. I did the float test and they all tested "fresh"! They were delicious! Not a thing wrong with them.
I had people tell me I HAD to "lock the whole flock up for at least a week to retrain her to lay in the boxes." I wasn't willing to do that from the get so I just clipped the branch that made that spot private and she went straight back to laying in the boxes!

 

[aart]

Quote:

Eggs stay "good " in the nest for up to 14 days before hens start to set. So 4 days old, they should be fine. But test them as noted above.


You need to pen up your hens to get them back to laying in the nest boxes, if that was 4 days worth of eggs, at least 4 hens laid in that spot!

The 'float' test isn't going to tell you much if they are only 4 days old.......
.....that test is for older eggs that have lost enough moisture for the air cell to grow large enough to float.

When in doubt, break eggs into a separate dish(instead of into pan or recipe) and give them a good look and sniff.

Agrees confining free range birds until they start laying in the coop nests is a good idea.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 3-4 days (or longer) can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[GC-Raptor]

4 out of 5 of my girls lay by 10am. So if you can open the coop at 10am, give that a try. Increase 1 hour increments as needed till you see success. GC

 

[Schrods]

Thanks for the advice! My hens have only been laying for about a month so I'll try keeping them in the coop more in the morning. A few hens have started staying outside at night with the goats so I'm guessing these are my outside layers.

 

[carlf]

Get them hens into the pen and keep them there for at least week.
Letting them roost outside is just offering them up to the coons & owls.
Plus by locking them in the pen will get them back to laying in the coop.